Spoilers for Batman and The Joker: The Deadly Duo #1!In DC Comics, Batman and his arch-enemy, Joker, are two characters destined to fight one another until the end, with both men having no enhanced powers or abilities to speak of other than their sharp minds and physical skills. But if Joker were to have a superpower, it’d undoubtedly be the fact that he can’t feel pain, explaining why he can stand toe-to-toe with some of DC’s best fighters and live to tell the tale!
A “superpower” confirmed in a new story that sees Batman and Joker team up for a common goal, this “deadly duo” very rarely work together, making Batman and The Joker: The Deadly Duo #1 a premiere issue that fans of either character need to read as soon as possible. And if this fictional pairing isn’t enough to entice readers to pick up a copy, the singular artistic talent attached to this limited Batman x Joker series will surely make up for that.
Written and drawn by comic legend Marc Silvestri -- a creator that has worked for Marvel, DC Comics, and Image Comics, and is one of the co-creators of the popular Top Cow-published The Darkness series -- this issue sees Batman go up against a baddie that is unlike any he's faced before. Investigating a crime scene that points to Joker being the culprit, Batman soon realizes that this latest villain is someone — or something — far different and far more dangerous than the Clown Prince of Crime; a situation that leads Batman to call out Joker’s “superpower” in question.
Joker's Superpower Helps Him Feel No Pain
Mulling over why this particular crime couldn’t be the Joker as the scene shows evidence that the assailant took a magnum bullet to the head and survived, Batman thinks, “Even the most basic organisms will recognize pain and alter their behavior accordingly. The Joker’s pathology doesn’t allow for this…in his twisted psyche, pain and injury simply don’t register.” Going on to further confirm Joker’s latent superpower with the line, “Humans feel pain…and the Joker shares little in common with humanity,” Batman tells readers that other than Joker's sadistic sense of humor and penchant for extreme violence, the simple fact that he doesn’t feel pain is undoubtedly something that helps him in his attempt to beat as many Batman-related heroes as he can, and then some.
And while this "feel no pain” aspect of Joker has been hinted at more than once over the years, Batman fully confirming it is a pretty vital reveal as it shows how Joker manages to keep up with any number of Bat-Family members, other DC heroes, and even DC villains — especially those trained in every combat discipline imaginable — and squeak out a win on occasion due to the sheer stamina and lack of worry allowed to a person who doesn't register pain. Joker and Batman will always beat the snot out of one another, but it looks like the Clown Prince of Crime will be the only one not feeling the hurt the morning after!
Batman and The Joker: The Deadly Duo #1 is now available from DC Comics.